BRIDGEPORT -- The sister of Alejandro "Macho" Velez said Monday she warned his girlfriend to stay away from him just days before police say he stabbed the girlfriend to death.

"I told her my brother has mental issues and she should be careful what she was dealing with," said the sister, who asked that her name not be used. "He was always fighting with her, and she called me to come get him because he was bugging out, but I told her to call police."

Velez, 37, remained in critical condition Monday at Bridgeport Hospital. Police said he took an overdose of pills Saturday night after stabbing to death 28-year-old Tinese Benson, the mother of a young son, at his mother's apartment in the Bishop Curtis Homes senior housing apartment building on Palisade Avenue.

It was Bridgeport's first homicide of 2014.

Velez's sister said he had been taking medication for a psychiatric illness. He was to be arraigned in state Superior Court here upon release from the hospital.

The sister, who discovered the body of Benson and the unconscious Velez in the fifth-floor apartment, said that the night before, her brother and Benson had been loudly arguing on State Street.

"They had a very unhealthy relationship," she said.

After Velez was released from prison, his sister said, he was being treated at a local clinic. She said Velez and Benson, who has a criminal record, met in a program.

"When he first brought her to my house, I told him it wasn't a good idea to start a relationship with someone he met in a program, but unfortunately for both of them, he didn't listen to me," she said.

The sister said their mother lives by herself on a fixed income in the Palisade Avenue apartment, but was recently given a trip to Florida as a birthday present. She said her brother agreed to take care of the mother's pets.

She said her brother was on life support at the hospital and police won't let her see him.

"I pray every day for my brother and I pray every day for the girl's family," she said. "A young boy no longer has a mother, and that is very sad."